Frequently Asked Questions

FlatFlow is a household management app designed for flatmates, housemates, and roommates who share a living space. It helps you coordinate the practical aspects of shared living — splitting bills, rotating chores, tracking who's using the kitchen or laundry, sending reminders, managing a shared shopping list, and more.

Think of it as a central hub for everything your household needs to run smoothly, so you spend less time on logistics and more time living together happily.

Download FlatFlow from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, then:

• Tap "Get Started" and then "Sign Up"
• Enter your email address and create a password
• Choose a username and pick a profile color
• Verify your email by clicking the link sent to your inbox
• Create a new household or join an existing one with a share code

The whole process takes less than 2 minutes.

Yes! FlatFlow has a generous free tier that includes all core features. You can split bills, create chore rotas, send nudges, use the shopping list, track kitchen/laundry usage, manage calendar events, and report maintenance issues — all for free.

The free tier has some monthly limits (10 bills, 10 nudges, 5 maintenance issues per month) and is limited to 1 active rota. Receipt uploads are available with FlatFlow Plus. Limits reset every month. For unlimited usage and extra features, you can upgrade to FlatFlow Plus.

FlatFlow is available on iOS (iPhone) via the Apple App Store and Android via the Google Play Store. There is no web or desktop version at this time — the app is designed as a mobile-first experience.

After verifying your email, you'll be taken to the household setup screen. Tap "Create a Household," give it a name (like your address or a fun nickname), and you're done. You'll receive a unique 6-character share code that you can send to your flatmates so they can join.

After creating your household, you'll see a share code (e.g., "A5K7Q2"). Share this code with your flatmates via text, WhatsApp, or however you communicate. They just need to download FlatFlow, create an account, and enter the code when prompted to "Join a Household."

You can also find the share code later in the House Info screen, accessible from the dashboard.

No. FlatFlow uses a single-household-per-user design — each account can belong to one household at a time. If you need to switch to a different household, you'll need to leave your current one first through Settings.

Up to 15 members per household. This covers everything from a 2-person flat to a large shared house.

Go to Settings and tap "Leave Household." You'll be asked to confirm. Once you leave, you'll lose access to that household's data and can create or join a new one.

Note: If you're the FlatFlow Plus subscription owner, you need to cancel your subscription first before you can leave.

Yes, but only if you're the household administrator (the person who created it). Go to House Info, find the member you want to remove, and tap the remove option. The removed member will be notified and will lose access to the household.

When creating a bill, you choose who paid it and who needs to split it. FlatFlow supports three split methods:

• Equal split — Divides the total evenly between selected members
• Custom split — You set each person's exact share manually
• Itemized split — Break the bill into individual items and assign them to specific people

Each member can then mark their share as paid. The dashboard shows everyone's current balance at a glance.

Yes! When creating a bill, toggle the recurring option and select a frequency: Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or Yearly. FlatFlow will automatically create new bill instances on the schedule you set, with the same split and details as the original.

Yes. When creating or editing a bill, you can attach a photo of the receipt (taken with your camera or selected from your photo library) or a PDF document. Receipts are stored securely and viewable by all household members. Free tier households can upload up to 5 receipts per month.

No. FlatFlow is a tracking and coordination tool, not a payment processor. It helps you track who owes what and mark when someone has paid their share. The actual transfer of money between flatmates happens outside the app — via bank transfer, Venmo, cash, or however your household prefers.

FlatFlow supports a wide range of currencies including USD, GBP, EUR, CAD, AUD, and many more. You can set your household's currency during setup or change it later in House Info. All bill amounts and splits will display in your chosen currency.

A rota is a chore rotation schedule. You create one by giving it a name (e.g., "Take out the bins"), choosing how often it needs doing (Daily, Weekly, Biweekly, or Monthly), and selecting which household members participate. FlatFlow then automatically generates tasks and rotates who's responsible.

For example, if you set up a weekly "Kitchen Cleaning" rota with 3 members, each person is assigned the task every 3 weeks in rotation order.

Reordering participants mid-rota is a FlatFlow Plus feature. With Plus, you can drag-and-drop to rearrange the rotation order at any time without creating a new rota.

Yes! FlatFlow sends a daily push notification at 9:00 AM if you have chore tasks due that day. You'll also see your tasks on the dashboard in the priority tasks section. Make sure you have notifications enabled to get reminders.

Nudges are friendly reminders you can send to household members. Instead of an awkward face-to-face conversation, send a nudge about taking out the trash, cleaning the kitchen, keeping the noise down, or anything else. You can send them to a specific person or the whole household, and you can choose to send anonymously if you prefer.

The Logs tab lets you broadcast when you're using shared kitchen or laundry resources. Tap "Start" to begin a session, choose an activity (Cooking, Coffee, Washing, Drying, etc.), and set the duration. Your household members can see who's using the kitchen or laundry in real time, helping avoid conflicts and double-bookings.

FlatFlow Plus subscribers can also schedule time slots in advance to reserve kitchen or laundry time.

The calendar gives you a monthly overview of everything happening in your household. It automatically pulls in bill due dates, chore assignments, and maintenance deadlines, all color-coded for easy identification. You can also create custom events with a title, description, date, and time.

The shopping list is a shared list visible to all household members. Anyone can add items with quantities, check them off when bought, and clear completed items. There's also a "Notify Household" button that sends a push notification to remind everyone about the list — handy when someone's heading to the shop.

The maintenance tracker helps you log household issues that need fixing — a dripping tap, a broken light, a dodgy oven. Each issue has a priority level (Low, Medium, High) and a status that progresses from Open to In Progress to Completed. It's a great way to keep track of what needs attention and communicate with your landlord.

FlatFlow Plus removes all monthly usage limits and unlocks premium features:

• Unlimited bills, nudges, maintenance issues, and receipt uploads
• Scheduled time slots for kitchen and laundry (book in advance)
• Participant reordering in active rotas
• Priority support

Plus applies to the entire household — only one member needs to subscribe and everyone benefits.

FlatFlow Plus is available in three plans:

• Monthly
• Quarterly (save compared to monthly)
• Yearly (best value)

Exact pricing is shown in the app and may vary by region. All payments are processed through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

No! Only one member needs to subscribe to FlatFlow Plus. The subscription applies to the entire household, so all members automatically get access to Plus features. You could even split the subscription cost using FlatFlow's bill-splitting feature.

You can cancel at any time through your device's settings:

• iOS: Settings → [Your Name] → Subscriptions → FlatFlow → Cancel
• Android: Google Play Store → Menu → Subscriptions → FlatFlow → Cancel

After cancelling, you'll keep Plus features until the end of your current billing period. After that, your household reverts to the free tier. No data is deleted — everything stays intact.

Since payments are processed by Apple and Google, refund requests need to go through them:

• Apple: Visit reportaproblem.apple.com
• Google: Go to Google Play Store → Order History

On the login screen, tap "Forgot Password?" and enter your email address. You'll receive a password reset link via email. Click the link, set a new password, and you'll be able to log back in.

Yes. We take security seriously:

• All data is encrypted in transit using TLS/HTTPS
• All data is encrypted at rest using AES-256 encryption on Google Cloud
• Passwords are securely hashed — we never see or store your plaintext password
• Authentication is required for all operations — no anonymous access
• We use minimal analytics for stability — no advertising trackers or behavioral tracking

For full details, read our Privacy Policy.

No, never. We do not sell, rent, lease, or trade your personal information to any third party. We don't use advertising networks, data brokers, or marketing platforms. Your data exists solely to power your household's FlatFlow experience.

Your household data (bills, rotas, nudges, shopping list, etc.) is visible to all members of your household. That's how the app works — it's designed for shared access among flatmates.

People outside your household cannot see your data. Authentication is required for all data access — only logged-in users can read or write data.

To delete your account and all associated data, email us at support@flatflowapp.com from the email address linked to your account. We'll verify your identity and delete your account within 30 days. This includes your profile, authentication data, uploaded images, and household membership.

If you have an active subscription, please cancel it through your app store settings before requesting deletion.

Yes. You can request a copy of all your personal data by emailing support@flatflowapp.com. We'll provide your data in a commonly used format within 30 days.

FlatFlow sends the following types of notifications:

• Bill reminders — 1 day before a bill is due
• Chore reminders — Daily at 9:00 AM if you have tasks due
• Nudges — When someone sends you a nudge
• Household updates — When members join, leave, or are removed

We never send marketing, promotional, or advertising notifications.

You can disable FlatFlow notifications through your device's system settings:

• iOS: Settings → Notifications → FlatFlow → toggle off
• Android: Settings → Apps → FlatFlow → Notifications → toggle off

All app features will continue to work normally without notifications.

First, check your spam/junk folder — verification emails sometimes end up there. If you still can't find it, you can request a new verification email from the verification screen in the app. Make sure you entered the correct email address during signup. If problems persist, contact us at support@flatflowapp.com.

Make sure your flatmate is:

• Entering the code exactly as shown (it's case-sensitive)
• Not already a member of another household (they need to leave their current one first)
• Using the latest version of FlatFlow

If the code still doesn't work, try regenerating a new share code from the House Info screen and sharing the new one.

FlatFlow syncs in real time over the internet. If data isn't syncing:

• Check your internet connection (WiFi or mobile data)
• Close and reopen the app
• Make sure you're logged into the same account on both devices
• Pull down to refresh on the main screens

If the issue persists, try logging out and back in, or reinstalling the app.

If notifications aren't coming through:

• Make sure notifications are enabled in your device settings for FlatFlow
• Check that your phone isn't in Do Not Disturb mode
• On Android, make sure FlatFlow isn't being restricted by battery optimization (Settings → Apps → FlatFlow → Battery → Unrestricted)
• Try closing and reopening the app to refresh your notification token

Nothing happens to your existing data — it's all safe and accessible. You simply won't be able to create new items in that category until the limit resets at the start of next month. You can always view, edit, and manage your existing items. Alternatively, you can upgrade to FlatFlow Plus for unlimited usage.